Jennifer Sizemore, Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of MSNBC.com and Executive Producer of NBC News

Katelynn Henderson: Did you always want to become a journalist or did you sort of fall into the profession?

JS: I was always interested in journalism, worked on school papers and such, but it wasn’t a career goal until the end of college. At that point, I took stock of my skills, my degree (political science) and my desire to have a job that made a difference in the world, and realized that there was really only one job I wanted to have. So I applied to graduate school to get hands-on experience in reporting and editing.

KH: How do you balance your job, family, etc. in your online journalism career?

JS: Online journalism is a 24/7 job in the true sense of the term. You are really “always on.” So when news slows down, you learn to take the windows of opportunity when they arrive – and just make sure you’re reachable in case news happens. I firmly believe that having a balanced life makes you a better journalist – if you don’t ever live in the real world, it’s difficult to make sure your publication is relevant in the real world.

KH: Why/when did you become involved in online journalism?

JS: In one of my newspaper jobs I was detached from the daily paper for a year to run a team tasked with “reinventing” the newspaper for the coming generations. During that yearlong project of research and prototyping, we did a lot of thinking and developing around what a breaking news product on the Web should be. That’s when I became convinced that the platform had so many possibilities and was being underutilized by most newspapers.

KH: How do you define online journalism?

JS: Good journalism is good journalism, whatever the platform. Doing journalism online gives us the added benefit of an immediate connection with the audience, allowing us to interact with the users and the rest of the real-time Web.

KH: How do you view blogging and online journalism?

JS: I think “blogs” are really just another publishing platform. Sure, some blogs are opinionated and one-sided, but so are some traditional publications. Ultimately, blogs are just another style of publishing and reporting – a style with quick iterations, links to the rest of the Web, and comments from users.

KH: Do you see an online journalist different from a blogger?

JS: See my answer above.

KH: What are some obstacles in reaching the top ranks of online journalism?

JS: The main obstacle is the lack of really good jobs in online journalism. There will continue to be more and better, but it remains a challenging field to get into because there are just a few big players.

KH: What do students need to learn in order to find careers in online journalism?

JS: Students need to have open minds – to what, how, when, where journalism should happen. That is the No. 1 character trait I look for in job applicants.

KH: What, in your opinion, is the future of online journalism?

JS: Again, journalism is journalism. I believe democracy demands a free press and a free press demands a democracy, so I have faith that journalism is here to stay. The Web is just one way to distribute that content. Platforms will continue to evolve.

KH: Would you encourage students to obtain a career in online journalism bypassing working in newspapers and broadcasting?

JS: No. I’d get experience doing whatever I could get experience doing. The grounding in the basics you get working at a newspaper – and insisting on being involved in the paper’s Web site – is invaluable, wherever your career goes. And broadcasting gives you similar grounding in the basics of video storytelling and speedy newsgathering.

KH: What initially made you interested in MSNBC?

JS: It was too interesting to pass up! The biggest national news Web site, the chance to engage in real-time with the audience, the opportunity to learn and stretch and reach a global audience within moments …

KH: Do you edit the user content that MSNBC receives?

JS: The user content we run on msnbc.com is cleared by editors. Our community site, Newsvine.com, lets the community do its own policing.

KH: Do you ever feel compelled to respond to any comments posted after news stories?

JS: Sure, and our writers and editors often do respond. It is important that we be as involved in the Web as our audience is. Journalism isn’t a one-way communication.

KH: Have you experienced any gender issues in your journalism career?

JS: I have never experience any “gender issues” in my journalism career. I’m not even sure what that means. Have I felt uncomfortable or held back or discriminated against because I’m a woman? Never.

KH: How did you make the transition from reporter to editor in chief of msnbc.com?

JS: I started as a copy editor at the Reno Gazette-Journal. Since then, I have jumped at every opportunity to grow and learn more and be challenged that came my way. I worked at five newspapers, all over the country, before msnbc.com.

KH: How different is online journalism from other forms of journalism?

JS: It is more immediate and visceral. But it’s still about telling good stories and connecting with the audience.

KH: What has been a defining moment/story in your career?

JS: Hurricane Katrina was the first big news story after I arrived at msnbc.com. Our coverage crystallized our strategy for covering big news and made it clear to me that my move to the Web was unquestionably the right one. For Katrina, we realized that we needed to find a unique way to use our resources for such an epic story. With wires and partner content, we had the main story covered. So we looked for the seam of the story where other organizations were not reporting, and where we thought we could make a difference. We chose to base our coverage in Mississippi, since the throngs of reporters were in New Orleans and we were sure there were untold stories. Our reporting embodied the real-time Web, surfaced in a blog format and letting the readers tell us where to go next, what stories in their towns were worth exploring. It was a visceral experiment that continues to inform how we choose to report today. Ultimately, we decided to base ourselves in a small town to document the recovery. We stayed for a year, long after most of the media were gone.

KH: Do you have a favorite story that you have ever done?

JS: See above.

KH: What changes has msnbc.com undergone since you became editor in chief?

JS: Online journalism continues to evolve at an astounding rate. As bandwidth has exploded, online news video has become ever-more important to both our storytelling and our business. And the constantly evolving mobile platforms continue to be a challenge – how do we make sure we’re where people will find us, even as increasingly people consume news in ambient rather than active ways.

KH: Who are your mentors/inspiration in the journalism industry?

JS: I have been fortunate to have had great bosses throughout my career – from my first boss, the news editor in Reno, to my current boss, the president of msnbc.com. When your boss is passionate about the public service of journalism, it makes it easy to come to work every day. And it’s made me equally passionate about being a good boss to my team.

Interviewee: Jennifer Sizemore
Jennifer Sizemore is vice president and editor-in-chief of msnbc.com and also holds the title of executive producer of NBC News. Sizemore, a native of Seattle, WA, has a degree in political science from the University of Washington and a master's in journalism from Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. She is currently in the Executive MBA program at the University of Washington. Prior to joining MSNBC, she was deputy managing editor for news at the Houston Chronicle, assistant managing editor at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and at the Rochester, N.Y., Democrat and Chronicle. Sizemore joined msnbc.com in July 2005 as the deputy editor for news.

Interviewer: Katelynn Henderson
Katelynn Henderson is a native of Durant, Iowa located just outside the Quad Cities. Henderson is currently a senior at the University of Iowa, majoring in Interdepartmental Studies with a focus on Business, accompanied with a minor in Journalism and Mass Communication. While a full time student, she simultaneously maintains jobs at the Banana Republic, Belli Joli, a jewelry store, as well as with a jewelry designer. When Henderson graduates from the University of Iowa, she plans on attending graduate school. Henderson became interested in gender and mass media when she noticed that the majority of well known journalists were men. As a result of this observation she wanted to learn how she could help the women’s journalism movement.